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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

For New WDW CPs: Transportation

This is my first post, because it was the first thing that confused me. So: Transportation around Walt Disney World. Most of you reading this probably came down without a car. Or you came with a car, but then your mom or dad drove the car back home. Either way, you're in the same boat I was in: sitting pretty at Housing without a car, wondering how you're going to get anywhere.

Well, my friends, the answer is the glorious bus system! If you didn't get a bus schedule the day you arrived, go to your Front Desk and get one. Now. Insist. They might tell you that it's available online. It is, but it's hard to get to, and it's important for you to have one on hand. You won't always have internet access.

Now that you have a bus schedule, the next step is to program the Dispatch number into your phone. Call this when the bus runs late. Yes, sometimes the buses are late due to traffic, but more often than not, the buses are late because they sit for way too long at Vista Way(their break room is there). Your rent goes to pay for the bus system, so there's no reason to tolerate tardiness. Especially when it can make you late for work.

Speaking of being late for work, I recommend going at least a bus ahead. Example: The A bus that picks up at Chatham at 3:32 would have gotten me to the Magic Kingdom at about 4:15(my shifts usually started at 4:30, but you can clock in 15 minutes early). There was a 3:12 bus that got me there around 3:55ish, and a 2:52 bus that would get me there at around 3:35ish. I usually tried to go for the 2:52 bus. It gave me more flexibility in terms of costuming or stopping at the cafeteria or going to the bathroom or whatever. The 3:12 bus was fine as long as I had everything ready- costume, lunch, etc. I took the 3:32 bus once, and I clocked in with two minutes to spare, and that was after sprinting through the utilidors. Lesson: take an earlier bus. This will also help if a bus is late or doesn't show up at all.

In the first week, everyone tells you to make friends with people who have cars. This is such good advice, but I have one caveat: don't drive with them until they're familiar with the area. I made that mistake on my first day. We got crazy lost- toll roads, back roads, everything you can imagine. Thank goodness we were only going grocery shopping.

Now, buses: So the CP buses will take you pretty much anywhere on Disney property, which is cool. But once you're there, there's another way to get around. Disney encourages the use of their mass transportation system. Animal Kingdom to the Magic Kingdom? Take a white bus. Magic Kingdom to Epcot? Take the monorail. Epcot to Hollywood Studios? You can actually walk, or you can take a Friend Ship, which will stop at a bunch of resorts along the way. Something trickier: Let's say you're at a park, and you want to go to Downtown Disney. You want to have dinner, watch a movie, go to Cirque du Soleil, whatever. So you go to the bus stop, and realize.... there are no buses from any of the parks to Downtown Disney(parking is free at Downtown Disney, and they don't want people in the parks using that). Fortunately, there's a way around that- you don't have to go all the way to housing and then take the F bus. Instead, hoof it or bus it over to the nearest resort and wait at the resort bus stop... for the Downtown Disney bus! See, they want people to go to Downtown Disney to spend money. They just don't want people using it to get out of paying for parking. And you aren't! You're using it so you can spend money at Downtown Disney, which is exactly what the buses are for.

So that's... pretty much it for transportation around the resort. Even if you have a car, you'll probably end up using the on-property system to get around, since there's no reason for you to drive from park to park when it's faster to just use the mass transit system. And if you have any questions about ANYTHING, new CPs, please feel free to leave them in the comments. There's no such thing as a dumb question. :)

4 comments:

Hey! I will be moving to Florida for the WDW college program in the fall. I've been a tad worried about transportation. Your post was very helpful, but I also am a little concerned because the bus system. I was going to take my car, but driving from Utah isn't the most reliable or cheapest way to go haha. But it just seems like they may not be very reliable, are they reliable most of the time? Also I'm a little worried that if its the buses fault ill be punished if in late to work. Do you know much about that? Is Disney understanding of the buses being late? Also is there transportation to other places such as church, or the beach or universal studios and places like that? Thanks so much for your help!!

The buses run late, but they're consistently late, so just plan now to take an early bus. If you clock in late, you get points counted against you. Too many points, and you'll be terminated. The managers are usually understanding if something crazy happens, but they're aware of the people who cut it close on a regular basis. But I took the bus to work pretty much every day during my program(sometimes I got rides with coworkers), and I was never late.

As far as transportation to other places goes, the CP bus system will actually take you part of the way to church, and the good ol' YSA members will take you the rest of the way. Send me an e-mail(sometimeskayleigh at gmail dot com) for more specifics on that... I'll get you in touch with someone from the ward. And then I'll be able to answer some of your other questions more specifically. :) Oh, or e-mail your campus rep. If you go to a church school, then he or she can definitely hook you up.

i have a question! i might be a little late on reading this blog, but ive been looking into going to florida for their program and i need to know how they deal with not working on sunday. could it be one of my days off so i would never really have to work sundays. also how are the wards set up? are they easy to get to and fun people? thank you, i would appreciate anything you have to say on the matter!

Allyson.... I think that you have to ask your coordinator to check if they can give you Sundays off, but dont guarantee anything. Besides, after that you can apply on the system your days off and they approve or deny the days off.